Measuring Quality of Care and Patient Safety: Problems in Use and Interpretation - The Baylor Health Care System, the Dallas Fort Worth Hospital Council, the National Association of Health Data Organizations, and the Rural and Community Health Institute of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center propose a joint conference to bring together nationally known researchers working on the assessment of quality of care and patient safety, especially those working with data from rural and small community hospitals, such as the Rural Health Information Technology Planning and Implementation Grant research teams, and others that would like to discuss the methodological challenges to perform accurate evaluations using data from rural and small community hospitals with small numbers of patients. The proposed conference would also function as a facilitator for interaction between researchers, hospital personnel, public health officials, and other end-users, who will have the opportunity to voice their most frequent questions and concerns, and receive explanations and appropriate answers. The aims of the proposed conference are summarized as follows: Aim 1: To bring together researchers from various organizations in order to share their concerns and the methodological problems they face when they carry-out assessments of quality of care and patient safety using data from rural and small community hospitals with small numbers of patients. Aim 2: To enhance the ability to find solutions to the problems posed by small numbers by promoting interaction, exchange of knowledge, including novel and best methodological approaches, and collaboration among researchers. Aim 3: To promote and stimulate participation of personnel from rural hospitals in a discussion forum together with researchers, in order to formulate questions, discuss the answers, and collaborate to find solutions. The proposed conference is highly relevant to the public health because the scientific methodological discussions will enhance the ability of accurately assessing the quality of care and patient safety in rural and small community hospitals. The improvements that will follow will ultimately benefit the end-users from rural populations. The proposed date for this conference is the second half of January 2007 (two days).